MARTINIQUE CRUISING NOTES

There have been some changes in logistics for cruising in Martinique. Kate and Bill Jones from SV Carried Away shared their experiences and tips

First note - as we heard from the Capitainerie in St. Pierre and several cruisers - the procedures and rules are always subject to change - so while this is what we experienced in early February 2025, it’s best to always check with the websites, Salty Dawg messages and posts, noonsite.com, Facebook groups etc.

Customs in Martinique :  

Customs clearance in the French islands has gone online - and it’s really easy.   Here’s a link (thanks to several Dawgs who shared) https://www.demarches-simplifiees.fr/commencer/declaration-clearance-antilles 

It provides an overview of the procedures, including a list of customs clearance locations and is the place where you can create a user profile (account) and use it to clear in and out of any of the French Caribbean islands.  All of your documents are kept there so you can login and access them or update them at any time. 

When staying in and among the French islands, including Martinique  - you do need to submit arrival and departure requests for each entry or exit, but you do not need to have a printed copy or visit the office.  The pdf that you receive via email, and that is also available online, is fine.

However, if you are traveling out of the French islands (e.g. Martinique to St. Lucia) you may need to have a hard copy with an official stamp in order to clear in.  To get a printed copy you can go to any of the listed customs clearance locations with your saved file on your device (I use my phone) or you can login to the website on the locations computer (for example at BouBous in St. Anne) using your credentials and then you can print your file which they will officially stamp for you.  The cost is 5 Euros.  

Helpful Tip:  One of the Dawgs figured out that you don’t have to complete all the information each time you submit a clearance.   You can go into a previous submission, click on it, then choose “duplicate”.  All the information will be copied to a new file - you can change any of the information as needed (dates/harbors/crew etc); then submit that file and you’ll get the approved new file back via email (and it will be saved to your account).  When departing, I go into my “clearing in” file, duplicate it and just adjust the date and port of actual departure.  Everything else can stay the same. 

From a harbor perspective - this year while in Martinique we visited St. Pierre, Grand Anse D’Arlet and St. Anne.    

St. Pierre:  

We took a mooring at St. Pierre.  We didn’t realize that you actually need a reservation now (new this year) and just pulled up to one to grab it - the Capitainerie came out and explained that you needed a reservation - however the mooring was available so he helped us to grab it.  This year in order to reserve a mooring in St. Pierre you need to have the Navilly App.  We downloaded and signed up and from then on it was really easy - we decided to extend our time there twice and simply went into the app and made the request. It was approved usually by the next morning if not right away, and they take payment via the app as well.  

The French moorings are difficult as they have metal loops that you can’t pull up to the boat - rather you have to put your lines down through the loops and back.  If someone is available to help it’s great - if not then having a Osculati (aka Magic Boathook) is very helpful.  We got one last year when we first tried to grab one and a kind Dawg came over to help (of course).   

Anchor note:  you can certainly anchor just south of the mooring field - the shelf is not too wide but there were plenty who were anchored and seemed to be good and secure. 

Grand Anse D’Arlet

We next sailed south to Grand Anse D’Arlet - which apparently has had shifting rules about anchoring over the past few years.   They had tried to install moorings, but they didn’t work (not sure why) and so now, as long as we were there, we were able to anchor.  We chose north of the dinghy dock and not too far in, but honestly it was very rolly the first night.  It calmed for the next couple of nights but anchor as close in to the beach area as possible.  You can’t get too close as many people swim off the beaches.  We did see the coast guard patrolling across the entrance to the harbor but they never entered or spoke to anyone that we could see.  Once again, to keep up with what’s allowed, we recommend using the Salty Dawg app for Martinique as well as Facebook Martinique cruiser group and Noforeignland, all of which provided good, updated info.   

St. Anne / Le Marin

For our last stop in Martinique we sailed down to St. Anne and dropped a hook (with a few hundred other boats - and several fun Dawgs!).  This is one of the easiest anchorages as the shallow shelf extends so far out into the bay there is plenty of room.  We do like to take the dinghy into Le Marin and of course they have a large marina and moorings as well.  Apparently you can reserve a mooring online at Le Marin, we did not, so we’d suggest contacting the Capitainerie office.